Cycling Advocates
Ride to Pro Walk Pro Bike 2006

Daily Trip
Log

Jack

from Vancouver B.C. to Madison, Wisconsin

Picture of Vancouver, BC

from Chicago,
IL to Santa Fe, NM

Date: 2006-09-18

Thoughts
for the Day

50 Days on the Road

Frustrating. Sitting here in Chicago’s
Union Station waiting for the train to be boarded. Unfortunately, none of
the wireless services working in this room will let me on. Most are secured
and the only one that is not wants user name and password. Would have though
that by now Amtrak would have wireless services available for its customers.

A quiet morning. Left the motel at 9:30 am
and came downtown. Did some walking though downtown and uptown before
getting here. Did find a nice yuppie, organic supermarket. They did have
an interesting deli counter.

Today’s sojourn was to just look at
the city, not anything in particular. Chicago is getting rejuvenated.
It is clean without any garbage around. The buildings have a real variety
of exteriors and colours. The city’s downtown does have a sterile
look to it, except for Michigan Avenue. It is a more friendly uptown where
the buildings are not as tall nor the streets so wide. There, under the
mature trees restaurants flourish. Narrower streets make the place more
intimate.

Guess someday, someone will have a brainwave
that the downtown streets should be humanized. Parking will be removed.
Only one traffic lane in each direction will be left. There will be cycling
lanes on each road, wider sidewalks, and more green space. Then the exterior
of these large buildings will be redone with a new street face that is
more personal and less uniform. Is that not what is required on most downtown
streets. Toronto on Yonge St for a block at the Eaton Centre has gone
through a bit of such a conversion. Others will follow someday.

Fall is settling in here as well. While still
a warm day at 21 degree Celsius, there is an uncertainty if rain and thunderstorms
will not take over.